Direct sluice valve for pipes conveying products at high temperature

ABSTRACT

A valve of the direct sluice type for high temperature applications including a cooperating closing member and an associated wedge for protecting the valve seating in its open position from injury caused by the conveyed fluids tending to adversely affect the seating. The valve is also adapted to facilitate the evacuation of products reverting from a decoking of a distillation column without opening the valve during the processing or cracking gas of petroleums under high temperature.

O United States Patent 1151 3,669,149 Guichon 1 June 13, 1972 [54]DIRECT SLUICE VALVE FOR PIPES 1,813,418 7/1931 O'Leary et al. ..251/159X CONVEYING PRODUCTS AT H 1,986,600 1/1935 Pigott 251/159 X 2,203,989 6/1940 TEMPERATURE 2,615,473 10/1952 [72] Inventor: Robert Julien JosephGuichon, Aix-les- 2,820,479 1/ l958 Bains, Savoie, France 2, 6 9582,971,534 2/1961 [22] Flled; July 28, 1970 01 7 9 1 19 2 21 A 1. N 58961 1 pp 0 Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott Attorney-Waters, Roditi,Schwartz & Nissan [30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 30, 1969France ..6925638 [57] ABSTRACT A valve of the direct sluice type forhigh temperature applica- [52] U.S. C1 ..l37/625.48 tions including acooperating closing member and an as- 511 1111. C1 1 ..Fl6k 11/06sedated Wedge for Protecting the valve scaling in its p 58 Field ofSearch ..l37/625.48; 251/159 position from j y caused y the conveyedfluids lending to adversely afiect the seating. The valve is alsoadapted to [56] Reerences Cited facilitate the evacuation of productsreverting from a decoking of a distillation column without opening thevalve during UNITED STATES PATENTS the processing or cracking gas ofpetroleums under high temerature. 2,946,349 7/1960 Hamer ..2s1/1s9 x p1,738,450 12 1939 Ryan et al ..2s1/159 2 Claims, 4 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDJUH 13 I972 SHEET 10F 2 FIG/l DIRECT SLUICE VALVE FOR PIPESCONVEYING PRODUCTS AT HIGH TEMPERATURE The present invention concerns adirect sluice valve for conveyor pipes for conveying products at hightemperature and in particular products developing a deposit such ascracking gas of petroleums which deposits coke under the action of thehigh temperature.

Most of the presently known valves do not give satisfaction becausetheir seatings are not protected in the open position so that theybecome unusable after opening.

The present invention aims at overcoming this inconvenience.

To this end there is provided a direct sluice valve of the typecomprising a sliding closing member with parallel faces characterized inthat it comprises means for protecting the seatings of its closingmember against the injurious action of the conveyed fluid, when it is inthe open position.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the closingmember is associated with a wedge for pressing the closing memberagainst its seating, said closing member being provided with anextension in which there is provided an opening for the productsconveyed so that in the open position of the valve, due to slidingdisplacement of the closing member this opening is situated between theinlet and the outlet orifices of the valve, the aforesaid wedge havingitself an identical orifice so that it can be applied against theclosing member when the latter is in the open position as well as whenit is in the closed position.

Thus in the closed position of the valve its seating is protected by theclosing member as well as by the wedge and in the open position itsseating is protected by the extension of the closing member and by thewedge.

The wedge and the closing member are of course connected in verticaltranslation to independent members for controlling their verticaldisplacement, and permitting unwedging and rewedging of the closingmember respectively before and after each displacement.

In the case of its application to the conveying of products or gases athigh temperature coming from a distillation column utilizing the processcalled Steam-Cracking or from any other furnace the closing membercomprises in its part ensuring the closure of the inlet orifice of thevalve, a blind central bore which with longitudinal axis parallel to thedirection of flow of the products, communicates with a seating made inthe said closing member and leading laterally from the latter to anadditional outlet tube provided in the body of the valve in order topermit the evacuation of products resulting from the decoking of thedistillation column or furnace without opening the valve.

Due to this arrangement, decoking of an installation disposed above thevalve may be effected in that it is unnecessary to open the valve andconsequently without it being necessary to stop the installation.

In addition the ability to effect the decoking without opening the valvepermits the decoking to be carried out at much higher temperatures thanin the past, which temperatures were limited by the possibilities ofinstallations disposed below. This advantage is very important becauseit permits effecting the operation of decoking without waiting until thefurnace or the distillation column is stopped. Therefore the losses oftime are considerably reduced and an increase in the output of theassembly is ensured.

Advantageously the closing member is mounted with lateral play in thebody of the valve and carries on one of its lateral faces an inclinedsurface which at the end of the closing stroke and in combination withan oppositely inclined surface inserted in the body of the valve, placesthe other lateral face of the said closing member against the seatingmade at the inner end of the additional outlet tube for the decokedproducts.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 1

FIG. 1 is a part-sectional perspective view showing a first embodimentof the valve;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of part of the valve of FIG. 1, moreparticularly a closing member in the closed position;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken respectively on lines 3-3 and4-4 of FIGS. 4 and 3, showing, on an enlarged scale, another embodimentof the invention.

The valve shown in FIG. 1 is essentially constituted by a tubular body 2of rectangular section and having on two of its opposite lateral wallstwo tubes 3 and 4 respectively having inlet and outlet openings 3aand4a.

According to the invention inside the tubular body 2 of the valve thereis disposed a vertically disposed cover 5. Beyond its part ensuring theclosure of the inlet opening 3a, there is an extension 5a in which ismade a bore 6 of equal diameter to the inlet orifice 3a in the tube 3.The cover 5 is connected for vertical movement to a rod 7 capable ofbeing reciprocably displaced vertically by any known means.

In addition, according to the invention, the cover 5 is associated witha wedge 8 having a vertical flat face 84 disposed adjacent one face ofthe cover 5, and an inclined face 8b which, having a steep slope, issupported in the closed position of the valve, against a seating 9 madein the body of the valve. This wedge is provided with a cylindrical bore10 of diameter equal to that of the inlet and outlet orifices of thevalve. Finally the wedge 8 is connected for vertical movement to anoperating rod 12 being capable of being reciprocably displacedvertically.

Thus, when the valve is in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 2, inorder to bring it to its open position it suffices firstly to displacethe wedge in the direction of the arrow 13 of FIG. 2 then, secondly todisplace the cover 5 in the same direction. The cover 5 may then slidefreely until the bore 6 of its extension 5a is coaxial with the inletand outlet orifices 3a and 4a of the valve. When the valve is in theopen position the control rod 12 of the wedge 8 is then operated inorder that this wedge may be displaced in the opposite direction to thearrow 13 and be supported against the seating 9 to place the extension5a of the cover against a seating 14 provided at the inner end of thetube 3.

Of course, in order to bring the cover 5 from its open position to itsclosed position shown in FIG. 2 it suffices to proceed in the oppositemanner, that is to say, to unlock the wedge 8, displace the cover 5, andthen finally relock the cover by means of the wedge 8.

Thus, whether the cover 5 is in the open or closed position, this latteris always kept in contact with the seating 14 so that any risk ofsoiling of the seating is obviated.

In addition, the cover 5 and the wedge 8 have on their faces adjacenttheir seatings, radial grooves, not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, intended topermit cleaning of the corresponding seatings by steam under pressurewhich is led into the tubular body 2 and which is evacuated through theoutlet tube 4. This steam prevents any carbonaceous or tarry particlesfrom being deposited on any of the seatings or on the cover or the wedgeand thus avoids any trouble or operating accidents ensuing fromdeposition of such particles.

In another embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in which like parts tothose in FIGS. 1 and 2 have like reference numerals, the cover 5 has inits part assuring the closing of the valve a truncated blind bore 15which, coaxial with the inlet and outlet openings 3a 4a, leads into ablind seating 16. This seating 16 extends laterally and emerges on oneside edge of the cover 5 adjacent an outlet tube 17 made in thecorresponding wall of the tubular body 2.

As FIG. 4 shows more particularly, the side edge of the cover 5,opposite that coming in contact with a seating 17a made at the inner endof the tube 17, comprises an inclined plane or wedge 18. In addition,the tubular body 2 has on its innerface adjacent the wedge 18 aninclined slope 19 which has an inclination opposite to that of the wedge18.

Finally as shown in FIG. 4 the cover 5 has lateral guide clips 20 whichare spaced slightly from the corresponding inner walls of the tubularbody 2 in order to allow the cover 5 a certain lateral play .I.

Thus, when the cover 5 is displaced in the direction of the arrow 21 inFIG. 4 to be brought into the closed position, so that the wedge 18enters in contact with the inclined face 19, this latter communicates toit a transverse displacement in the direction of the arrow 22 andapplies it with water-tight contact against the 17a of the outlet 17. Atthe end of this movement the seating 16 is directly in line with theoutlet tube 17 as shown in FIG. 4.

Of course in order to ensure the complete water-tightness of the valveit is necessary to displace the wedge 8 in the direction of the arrow 21in order to place the cover 5 against the seating 14 as shown in FIG. 3.

The valve thus realized of the direct three-way type is particularlyuseful when it is used for the conveying of products coming from adistillation column or a furnace. in fact, when it is in the positionshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, that is to say in the closed position, it can beadapted to evacuate the products coming from decoking of an installationbelow which it is disposed. The decoking products entering the valvethrough the inlet tube 3 pass directly through the bore 15 and seating16 to be evacuated through the tube 17.

This arrangement of the valve is particularly suitable as it permitsdecoking with the valve in the closed position, while in the past it hasbeen necessary to leave the valve in the open position which made itnecessary to stop the installation completely before carrying out thedecoking. With the valve according to the invention therefore, it is notnecessary to stop the distillation column for a long time in the orderof three to four days. in fact a reduction of the temperature in thedistillation column or in the furnace, which only requires a few hours,is sufficient. Such a valve therefore, permitting the considerablereduction of the stopping time necessary for decoking of theinstallation on which it is installed, consequently provides aconsiderable increase in the output of the installatron.

As FIGS. 3 and 4 show more particularly the tubular body 2 is surmountedby a box 26 having cooling vanes 27 and an inlet tube 28 which isconnected to a steam system under pressure. At its upper part, the box26 has seatings 29 for the stuffing boxes intended to ensure awater-tightness for the passage of the control rods 7 and 12respectively of the cover 5 and the wedge 8. ln known manner these tworods are connected to means for imparting to them vertical movement.

Thus, when the steam penetrates into the inner cavity of the box 26 itis led into the tubular body 2 via the openings 30 made in theconnecting flanges of the box 26 and the tubular body 2, and thus passesinto the tubular body 2 to come into contact with the cover 5 and thewedge 8 which have, as shown more particularly in FIG. 3, radial grooves32. Due to these grooves 32, the steam infiltrates between the abuttingfaces of the two aforementioned elements and their respective seatings,and prevents any deposits on these faces.

Finally the tubular body 2 has at its lower part a removable box 33intended to receive the products of decoking or the carbonaceous andtarry particles which would not be evacuated normally through one of theoutlet tubes 4 orl7. The box 33 may be removed from the tubular body 2so as to be emp tied of the deposits which it contains and this can bedone when the valve is in the open or closed position.

I claim:

1. A sluice valve for pipes conveying products at high temperature, ofthe type comprising a gate having two laterally extending parallelfaces, a laterally extending bore fonned in said gate, a body havingcoaxial conduits for respectively the inlet and outlet of the productbeing conveyed through said valve, an auxiliary outlet conduit in saidbody communicating with said laterally extending bore, said gate beingslidably positioned in said body intermediate said conduits forseparating the latter, said gate having an orifice adapted to provideproduct flow communication between said conduits in a valve openposition, said gate further including, in the portion thereof spacedfrom said orifice and providing leak-proof separation between saidconduits, a centrally located blind ho e extending parallel to the flowof said product and communicating on one side with the inlet conduit andat the other side with said auxiliary outlet conduit, a wedge in saidbody extending adjacent to said gate, independent actuating means fordisplacing said wedge relative to said gate in parallel movement, saidwedge having a central aperture, said actuating means effecting hermeticsealing between the gate seating in one position and opening of saidgate before and after each displacement of the latter.

2. A valve according to claim 1, characterized in that the gate memberis mounted with lateral play in the body of the valve, there beingprovided an inclined surface on one of its lateral faces which at theend of the closing stroke and in combination with an oppositely inclinedsurface made on the body of the valve, places the other lateral face ofthe said gate member against a seating made at the inner end of theauxiliary outlet conduit.

1. A sluice valve for pipes conveying products at high temperature, ofthe type comprising a gate having two laterally extending parallelfaces, a laterally extending bore formed in said gate, a body havingcoaxial conduits for respectively the inlet and outlet of the productbeing conveyed through said valve, an auxiliary outlet conduit in saidbody communicating with said laterally extending bore, said gate beingslidably positioned in said body intermediate said conduits forseparating the latter, said gate having an orifice adapted to provideproduct flow communication between said conduits in a valve openposition, said gate further including, in the portion thereof spacedfrom said orifice and providing leak-proof separation between saidconduits, a centrally located blind hole extending parallel to the flowof said product and communicating on one side with the inlet conduit andat the other side with said auxiliary outlet conduit, a wedge in saidbody extending adjacent to said gate, independent actuating means fordisplacing said wedge relative to said gate in parallel movement, saidwedge having a central aperture, said actuating means effecting hermeticsealing between the gate seating in one position and opening of saidgate before and after each displacement of the latter.
 2. A valveaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the gate member is mountedwith lateral play in the body of the valve, there being provided aninclined surface on one of its lateral faces which at the end of theclosing stroke and in combination with an oppositely inclined surfacemade on the body of the valve, places the other lateral face of the saidgate member against a seating made at the inner end of the auxiliaryoutlet conduit.